


Roll For Luck

by iamapurplesupervillain



Series: tabletop au [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-15
Updated: 2013-09-18
Packaged: 2017-12-23 15:09:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/927950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iamapurplesupervillain/pseuds/iamapurplesupervillain
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>To Jean Kirschstein, college is just a bump on the way to the SINA School of Law, his ticket to a cushy life as a corporate lawyer. So when his roommate drags him to play "Attack on Titan" with a bunch of nerds, he doesn't think it will effect his life at all.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> so this is going to be mostly from jean's perspective, but there will be a series of fics/ficlets focusing on various characters in this au.  
> i know fuck all about pre-law, and even less about tabletop gaming. i've been studying up, but if i make any glaring errors, i'd appreciate it if you let me know.  
> thanks for reading. ^^

The only reason I got involved in any of this at all was my roommate.

\---

My first day at college found me struggling up the stairs of my dorm with four bags and sorely regretting telling my mom I could drive and move myself in. (“Who’s gonna show up with their mom on the first day of college?” I had thought to myself. The answer was everyone. Everyone’s parents were there but mine.) Yeah, that wasn’t smart. I was building up a sweat and my entire body hurt. At least I was almost to my floor.

Out of goddamn nowhere my duffel bag’s handle snapped and it tumbled to the bottom of the stairs. It seemed to happen in slow motion. I may have let out a tiny scream.

And then, the most beautiful thing I had ever heard: “Oh! Here, let me help you with that!”

I managed to crane my neck backwards and saw a kid with only two bags slung easily over his shoulders bending over to pick up my duffel by its functioning short handles at the bottom of the stairs. “Oof, what’s in this thing?”

“Ahaha, just clothes.” I figured I’d packed enough clothes to last me two weeks before I had to learn how to work a washing machine. (I was creative; they actually lasted about three and a half.) I shambled up the remaining steps before dropping my bags and turning around to see my savior coming up behind me.

He looked…like kind of a nerd actually. Boring center part haircut. Sweater-vest. And freckles. Freckles everywhere.

When he made it to the top he said, “Hey, is this your floor? Because if it is, it’s mine too, and I could help you drag this too your room if you want.”

I kind of thought I was hallucinating an angel, so it took me a second before saying, “Uh, yeah. I’m in 309. Thanks.”

“Whoa. Are you Jean?”

“What? How-“

The kid grinned. “I’m your roommate! Marco Bodt.” He stuck out a hand that I struggled to reach out and shake.

“Jean Kirschstein. Nice to meet you.”

\---

College was hard. Like, weirdly hard. Hard in ways high school had not prepared me for. I mean, yeah, the classes were pretty difficult, and there was a lot of homework, but that I could handle. I wasn’t used to waking myself up every morning though. And I’d never had to buy my own food before. And LAUNDRY. Oh man, it took me three tries before I didn’t ruin anything. And I swear, every time I went down there, my RA was there too. Always washing something. Always staring at me with his creepy soulless eyes, judging me. And some of the teachers were nuts too. My ethics professor screamed the whole lecture and looked like he wanted to kick me in the dick the first time I raised my hand.

At first I was disappointed that I’d landed such a lame roommate. Marco looked like the type who’d stay up until 3 studying every night and like, bitch at me for not folding my socks or whatever. I called him Sweater-Vest in my head. I dunno, I guess I wanted to dislike him. He looked like someone I would make fun of in high school. (Hey, I never said I wasn’t an asshole.) That only lasted about two days though. He was too _nice_. I felt like I was kicking a puppy with my brain. And he was actually pretty cool.

He was helpful too. Like a lot of the students there, we were both pre-law, and trying to get into the Sinclaire International School of Law. We had the same ethics and econ classes. So, naturally, we helped each other study. And he was really good at this stuff, almost as good as me actually. A week in I figured I’d lucked out in the roommate department. Two weeks in I figured we were friends.

I guess he had figured the same thing, because about three weeks in when we were studying for an ethics test he looked up from his notes and said, “Hey, uh, Jean?”

I looked up from Angry Birds, “What’s up?”

“I was wondering…Well, this guy in my statistics class asked me to come to this thing he was having, and I don’t really want to go alone, and I was wondering if you’d want to come with me.”

“What, like a party?” My interest was piqued.

“Uh, no, not really.”

“Oh.”

“It’s like, tabletop RPGing.”

“…Like what?”

He rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, “You know, a bunch of people around a board, making up characters and a story, rolling dice…”

“Oh, like Dungeons and Dragons?” I used to mess with some nerds at my middle school who played that during lunch.

“Yeah, kind of. I used to play with some friends in middle school, but some kids kept harassing us, so I quit-“

Those bastards.

“-but it’s really fun! You make your own character and like, strategize, and fight battles and collect loot and stuff-“

I did like strategy, glory and money…

“And Armin said I could bring someone with me, and I’d really like it if you came.”

“Oh, I know him, who else is coming?” I asked, but I was trying to think of a way out of it. I didn’t want to hurt his feelings or anything, but this sounded kind of extremely lame.

“Um, Reiner from Ethics, and I think his roommate, uh, Sasha Braus and Connie, Christa….”

Nah, wasn’t going.

“…Mikasa....”

…

“…Some other people I guess.”

Well, how could I say no to my good friend when he was so obviously in need? I wasn’t _heartless_.

“Sure, I guess I could come. Sounds fun.”

“Really?!” Okay, the excited puppy face was sort of gratifying.

“Yeah, no problem. When is it?”

“Tuesday. Can you make it?”

“Yeah, totally.” And with that I sealed my fate.

\---

Tuesday night found us on the other end of our hall, standing in front of a door.

Marco rubbed the back of his neck. “Guess I’ll knock then,” he said, before proceeding to do so.

A few seconds later, a blond bowl cut and a huge pair of blue eyes opened the door. “Marco! Jean! Thanks for coming!”

“Hi Armin.”

“Come on in.” He turned around and we followed him in. “Jean and Marco are here!” he said to the people in the room.

“Are you _kidding_ me?” a pissy and wholly irritating voice complained. I stopped dead in my tracks.

“Shut up Eren” said at least three voices.

Of course Eren Fucking Jaeger was there. I should have known he would be there. Mikasa never went anywhere _without_ the little tumor. And wasn’t Armin his best friend? Why didn’t I know? Why didn’t _Marco_ know?

A glance at Marco’s pointed away gaze and hand rubbing the back of his neck told me that he _had_ known.

The traitor.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> wow! hey! that took a while! sorry about that, but now that y'all's expectations have been lowered, i probably won't disappoint you when i inevitably take weeks to update again.  
> stay tuned for more jerkstein adventures!  
> (ps: here's a doodle of tabletop au marco: http://apurplesupervillain.tumblr.com/post/58103829818/lil-blush-marco-doodle )

Eren Jaeger probably thought of me as his arch-nemesis. I did not think of him as my arch-nemesis because I wasn’t 13 years old or delusional. I thought he was an annoying dick.

I met him at the dorm, at our floor’s first meeting. We were all in a circle in uncomfortable folding chairs, waiting for our RA to show up. No one knew anyone else, except for a few lucky guys with friends from back home to talk to.  The rest of us just stared silently. It was incredibly awkward.

Finally, our RA shuffled into the common room. Despite being late, he looked like he hadn’t even changed out of his pajamas. He was wearing an immaculately clean white t-shirt, grey sweats that looked like they had been ironed, and socks that practically glowed.

My RA totally just slept through the beginning of his own meeting, I thought to myself. Fantastic.

“Hey freshmeat. Sorry I’m late,” he said in a bored tone of voice. He had the build of a 14 year-old, but his face looked about 20. “I’m Levi, your resident advisor. I’m required by my job to tell you that if you have any questions or problems, you can come to me. My door is always “open.”” He did actual finger quotes.

“Now,” he glanced dispassionately at the paper in his hand. “You’re gonna go around the circle, say your names, majors, and goals for after college. Oh. And when you’re done with your introduction, you’re gonna throw this to someone else to make it their turn to speak,” he said, pulling a little yellow ball with a smiley face on it out of his pocket. “Y’know, to make it more fun. Now, let’s get this over with.”

Without warning he tossed it to the blond kid on his left, who barely caught it. By the time he stammered out “T-Tomas Wagner….” I had already zoned out.

I was jerked back to reality by the ball flying at my face. I barely caught it and almost dropped it, but I think I managed to play it off. I grinned not awkwardly. “Jean Kirschstein. Economics major. After college I’m going to SINA Law to study corporate law. I plan to become a business attorney and work on Wall Street.” I saw one of the guys across from me roll his eyes. I raised an eyebrow.

“How fantastic for you,” droned Levi. “Now throw the ball.”

I aimed straight for the eye-roller.

He caught it easily in one hand. “Eren Jaeger. Philosophy Major. After college I’m headed to SINA Law to get my degree and become a criminal prosecutor.”

I snorted. “Wow, have fun eating mac n’ cheese for the rest of your life.”

“At least I’m not gonna be a corporate bloodsucker! With my career I might actually accomplish something!” He leaned forward in his seat.

“Wow, such tension,” Levi drawled, not even glancing up from his DS. “Looks like introductions are over, so that’s it for the first meeting. Hooray. We’ll have another one of these in about two weeks. If you’re curious about any upcoming events, that’s why we have a bulletin board. Now leave.”

Jaeger and I exchanged glares as Marco and I passed him on our way out. What a self-righteous little prick.

\---

Two days later I was sitting through my first ethics lecture. My professor, Shadis, had been ranting incoherently for a half an hour. A girl next to me looked like she was about to cry after he called her out for having her phone out in class.  I was bored.

I felt a tap on my shoulder. “Excuse me, I dropped my pen by your foot. Could you reach it for me?”

I turned around and saw the hottest girl I had ever seen in my entire life.

I must have paused for too long, because her expressionless face became kind of concerned.

“O-oh! Sure! One sec…” I lunged under my desk, totally didn’t hit my head, came back up, and heroically set her pen back on her desk.

“Thanks.”

“No problem. I, uh, like your hair.”

“Thanks.” She turned back to face the board like nothing had happened.

‘I like your hair?’ Smooth Kirschstein.

When the lecture was over, I calmly jammed my laptop into my bag before flipping around to face her, but she was already gone. I turned to the front and there she was, talking to that idiot from the floor meeting.

How did I not notice him before? He was three seats ahead of me. And now she was three seats ahead of me, talking to him like she knew him. And standing close! And smiling!

I got up and started walking towards the door, but stopped nonchalantly when I was a few feet away from them, acting like I was looking for something in my bag.

“…Isn’t your hair getting kinda long? Won’t it be hard to deal with at the gym?”

“You think I should cut it? How short…” They started walking away, and I couldn’t hear them anymore.

Was she dating him? Him? That little gremlin? Before this I’d told myself that the floor meeting wasn’t that big a deal, that he probably wasn’t a bad dude, and had a right to his opinion. After what just happened though, I realized that I was possibly dealing with the spawn of Satan.

\---

Flash forward to Armin Arlert’s dorm room. He apparently shared it with Jaeger, who was currently staring me down. Okay, maybe it wasn’t so much a staredown as him sneering at me for a second before turning to talk to Reiner, but the feeling was there and it was mutual.

“Uhm, Jean? Do you want to go sit down?” Marco somehow had the gall to talk to me after his betrayal. I nodded and stepped forward anyway, pointedly looking away from Jaeger.

A bunch of the foldout chairs from the back of the common room were circled around two tiny tables, a round one and a square one, awkwardly shoved together. The tables were covered in scribbled sheets of paper, weird dice, a box, some books, a bowl of O-Ke-Dokes, and cans of soda.

I squeezed in between Connie and an empty seat that was soon taken by Marco.

Connie was doing an Annoying Orange impression for Sasha. He was pretty convincing, what with how annoying he was and his freakishly round bald head. On my other side Marco was already immersed in conversation with Armin and Reiner’s giant roommate, who mostly nodded and shook his head. Between him and Reiner was a blonde chick in a hoodie, who was completely still except for her eyes darting across her Gameboy’s screen, and her thumbs jamming the buttons.

The girl barely glanced up, annoyed, when Reiner slung an arm around her shoulders, still yammering on with Jaeger. On the other side of Sasha, Christa and some chick I didn’t know (who looked like she’d been wearing the same clothes for three days) were getting progressively louder as they tried to shove popcorn down each other’s shirts. Between Reiner and Jaeger cackling and Christa and Greasy battling it out, right across from me, was Mikasa. She wasn’t talking to anybody. She looked bored, eyes drifting around the room, not focusing on anything in particular. Also hot. She looked really, really hot. And now I had an opening. I had a chance to make up for all the times I’d almost talked to her in ethics, only to have Jaeger cut in. It was my time to shine.

Of course, when it came down to it, I had no idea what to say.

I cleared my throat. “So,” I said looking at no one in particular, but loud enough to be heard across the tables. “How do you play?”

Like a spell had been cast over the room, (a level 5 Silence Spell to be exact,) everyone shut up at once and turned towards me. Mikasa was the only exception, still staring at the wall.

No, I thought weakly. This is the opposite of what I wanted.

As if he could read my mind, Jaeger grinned.


End file.
